Justice Robnolte

Marisa Enos

ENG.111

January 14, 2018

21st Century Learning

Throughout our lives, we have been told by everyone in our families that in order to excel

in life, it is crucial that we go through with thirteen plus years of mind-numbing education. As

much as I can say I love learning, I don’t know a single person that can work well under the

pressure of four different classes, each at their own difficulty, but I am trying and so far,

succeeding. When it comes to learning, everyone feels like it’s you know it, or you don’t. I

honestly thought that for the longest time. It’s the first week of this class, and I already learned

something. It’s such a great feeling.

Reading through the assigned chapter, Robert Leamnson is the author of “Thinking

About Teaching and Learning,” in which he gives us the science behind teaching and learning,

and walks us through the process of thinking whilst learning. But, aren’t we always thinking

while we learn or study? Everyone can honestly answer no. Have you ever had your thoughts

wander for a bit while reading your section? Have you gotten up during your paper to just walk

around for a bit, never knowing why you’re doing? It’s because you’re not thinking! You’re just

doing, and that’s the problem with learning today. All students and most teachers just want to do

their work. They don’t want to learn/teach, and it shows in the lack of action to be taken

seriously. Everyone makes learning too hard, when it can be a simple sit down and think

procedure. Leamnson states that instead of trying to learn in a step-by-step process, it’s as easy
as reading and re-reading, “Progress is a matter of increasing neural connections with more and

more re-entry loops and cross talk,” (Leamnson 68). As stated, re-reading and continuous

questions for your teacher/instructor is what can help you the most when it comes to studying. I

find that if I don’t have any questions for my instructors that I’m not fully understanding

anything, because I know that it is a learning process. Also having a positive outlook on scores

will help benefit you more than beating yourself up over one bad grade – instead transform that

into positive energy to only do better.

There is more that can be done to better the education of someone as well: the instructor.

Having a competent and skilled instructor is crucial to learning, and if they don’t understand that

you might learn differently compared to another student can make or break that course. For

example, some students can learn just by reading through the book, others by presentation. I can

learn from hands-on experiences, and videos the best, but I also am a book learner. Leamnson

explain that an infant who grows without any stimuli/senses around them, they will grow to be

only human, and nothing more, “Without words, sights, sounds, and a variety of stimuli, most of

that multiplicity of synapses would regress, and that unfortunate infant would grow into

something only marginally human,” (Leamnson 73).

Although he speaks more on the top of the science behind learning, Leamnson’s second

article, “Today’s First-Year Students,” speaks more of the brains behind the eighteen to twenty-

year old’s entering college for the first time, not knowing what will be inside. As we know,

Freshmen college students can be thought of as toddlers with a drinking permit. Sadly, that is

completely shown by the nearby areas amount of parties that were thrown in the first semester

every single year. But, I digress, and say that this bunch of new college students are some of the

brightest and smartest I have seen in a very long time. Our problem is that we are on a “had”
basis. To emphasize, we have already experienced most subjects like math, science, and history.

Since we have already had classes labelled “math” or “science”, we assume that if we take it

again if college, we will know everything. As Leamnson states in his article, he had a student

who would never show up to class, would do her work from her computer at home, and would do

all work required, and when asked why she does this, she states it is, “…Because she already had

biology, and needs to only study on her own,” (Leamnson 76-77). Even typing it sounded crazy,

as I know for a fact I don’t remember anything instantaneously from my eleventh-grade biology

class. Hopefully, we can do better to move on from this stigma – Or even better, suggest to them

online classes?

Although Leamnson is an instructor and author, he gave us information – both negative

and positive – about teaching and learning. Teachers must be 100 percent into their work, and

need to try to understand that students are all different. I wish I had the amazing instructors I

have this semester throughout all my educational years. Most teachers I had were very quiet, and

got angry at the slightest question asked, making it seem like we weren’t really paying attention,

and trying to find the easy way out. I am only trying to learn, and sometimes just giving a

worksheet and saying, “Here, read it.” Will not help me. Imagine if someone just gave you your

degree without letting you sit in on classes, and observe how to teach, and said, “Here, now

teach.”. Not so easy now, is it?

Works Cited

Leamnson, Robert. Exploring Connections - 'The Biological Basis of Learning' and 'Our First-

Year Students'. 2nd ed., New York, Pearson, 2016, pp. 60-80.